The desirability of intensifying the flavor of foods is well known. The most important and best known flavor enhancer is salt. In the case of butter or margarine, the incorporation of salt presents no problem. Butter or margarine contains an aqueous phase in which the salt is dissolved and thus can be uniformly dispersed throughout. However, grilling fats or flavored oils usually contain no water or aqueous phase in which to disperse the salt. Because of the significantly higher density, salt settles out of a liquid fat or oil. In particular, where a container of solid fat, or a fluid fat containing triglyceride hardstock, is heated, the salt settles out of the liquefied fat rapidly.
The uniform delivery of salt from a fat product is particularly desirable in processes where the fat is heated, as in the case of grilling fats and flavored oils. Utilization of butter or margarine to deliver the salt is usually undesirable because the salt remains with the aqueous phase which separates upon heating. The salt-containing aqueous phase cannot be delivered uniformly to the food, particularly in institutional cooking. Additionally, the aqueous phase tends to cause objectionable spattering. Also, butters and margarines burn or brown on continued exposure to high temperatures.
The problem of incorporating salt into a water-free fat composition is described in European Patent Document No. 21,483 to Crosby, published Jan. 7, 1981. The Crosby Patent Document discloses compositions which include a liquefiable fat component and a flavor-enhancing amount of microfine particles of a flavor enhancer such as salt. These microfine particles typically range in size from about 1 to about 10 microns. By controlling the particle size distribution of the microfine particles, a flavor-enhancing suspension of salt can be provided in a liquefied fat for commercially acceptable periods of time.
A component usually included in grilling fats and flavored oils is lecithin. Fried or grilled foods usually stick to cooking utensils and the heated surfaces on which the food is cooked. In particular, grilling fats which contain salt have been found to have poorer anti-sticking performance. The addition of lecithin in suitable amounts improves the anti-sticking performance of the grilling fat. In particular, it has been found that the combination of salt and lecithin synergistically improves anti-sticking performance.
Although the combination of salt and lecithin synergistically improves anti-sticking performance, it has been surprisingly found that lecithin causes the salt to rapidly settle out of the grilling fat when liquefied. Even salt having the microfine particle size disclosed in the Crosby Patent Document quickly settles out of a heated fat containing lecithin within a short period of time.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a flavor-enhancing suspension of salt in the presence of lecithin when the fat is liquefied for commercially acceptable periods of time.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a fat composition in which particle sizes of salt larger than 1 to 10 microns remain suspended for commercially acceptable periods of time in the liquefied fat, even in the presence of lecithin.
These and other objects of the present invention are described hereinafter.